Like the author of the article - so disappointed, that NOT ONE of the top forty selected a few weeks ago had a Kiwi on it. There were a few with a combined (stylised) Kiwi/Koru/wave that I liked a lot - I'll see if I can find it ... Can't find the one I liked best now, but it was a multi-colour design with something like his for the Kiwi/Koru :
Yeah one of the triangle designs, "Red Peak" is gaining a chunk of support (if you have a moment, http://aotearoaflag.tumblr.com) , it's even now being discussed by the two major parties of our government about whether to include it or not in the final designs. It does seem like a large bit of political posturing, National party wanted the change, Labour were against it - now that Red Peak has become a sort of unifying symbol for some, Labour could go back on their previous statement and agree that it could be included, but that also can be construed as "We also think the flag should be changed". Whether they mean it or not, National will print it as such. The simpler designs are much better I feel, the fern has a "mass produced" feel to it, slapping a silver fern onto a canvas and calling it a day. And the Koru has a similar feel, if only because it appears they wanted to have a sliver of Maori culture in there to avoid any backlash from that demographic who would want to be represented. $26 million could have gone elsewhere, but here we are now.
I have become a fan of the red peak design http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/71768480/support-for-red-peak-flag-on-the-rise
I wasn't that keen on it at first sight, and a lot of Kiwis still feel the same - "meh". But this link is what changed my mind : http://aotearoaflag.tumblr.com/
Aye the link you posted is what swayed me - there are well presented feelings behind it and it's something that seems to have captured a chunk of the nation so far. I am still unsure about whether I will vote for a flag change, but with a gun to my head and forced to choose; I'd happily go for Red Peak.
Note: I'm into heraldry and not vexillologie. And I exaggerate. :-) I think flags shouldn't have detailed figures like kiwis or stars, but should instead consist of geometric figures like bars, lines, or spirals. Here is why: Imagine a waving flag as on the image. But you usually see flags from far away, so the details get blurry for the viewer. Plus, you rarely see one straight from the front, so the waving flag partially hinders the view on itself. It may look like this to you (bad quality and over the top photoshopping intended): The stars of the hemisphere will get unrecognizable from a less then ideal perspective, if you do not know them and will just appear to be some stars … or circles, dots? Also, can you tell whether this is a spiral or a kiwi on the right flag? Stick to the easy design. I like the top right flag and I cannot think of any country's flag that is just black and white, so I would take that. The bottom left fern design would also be nice if the number of leaves is not fixed (so smaller variants don't look bad because of too many tiny things - I'm looking at you USA!)
Some have said that the black-and-white designs look too much like the ISIS flag (which I think is bunk, but it's probably enough to kill them anyway).
I think Australia should be the ones dropping the Union Jack rather than us to be honest. Or maybe we could leave the commonwealth first.
I don't know I wasn't paying too much attention to it, but a lot of younger Kiwis don't seem to like the union jack because they see New Zealand as it's own thing. I'm not too sure about what older peeps thing though.
I'm sad to say I don't really like any of the options. Whether we need a change or not aside, it would have been nice to have a bit more diversity with the finalists. But I guess there is only so much that we can have on the flag that would be relevant.
The Union Jack in the corner of our current flag is a little too "colonial" for some people's tastes; also, the NZ flag and the Aussie flag are nearly identical at the moment. There is a very active social media campaign for the "Red Peak" option to be included in the options; so far it looks like it won't happen, but I love this design : http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11508844
The PM has relented and now Red Peak is one of the choices :
It was in the top 40, but it didn't get a lot of attention until people started noticing the lack of variety in the final 4 (which some people have called "what colours do you want with your fern? Or would you rather go for the possum's bum?")
The Bottom right or Top right would be best in my opinion. Easy for kids to draw, not too flashy, bring in familiar themes.